The Spacious Urban Retreat

The Spacious Urban Retreat is a flat on Head Road, up on the hill on the south side of Douglas, and it earns the first word of its name. The rooms are far larger than a town flat usually gives you.

The stair comes up to a white landing with the rooms opening off it, all of them running under the pitch of the roof, so every window is either a dormer or a skylight.

Under the roofline

The lounge is what sells the flat: pale walls, a patterned rug, low-armed chairs around a dark coffee table and a television on a long sideboard, with more clear floor than most apartments manage. The kitchen sits separately, fitted with grey units and a tiled splashback, a hob and oven, a microwave and a dining table under the window. The washing machine and tumble dryer live here too.

The bedroom and the roll-top bath

One bedroom, with an extra-large double bed set under the slope of the ceiling, cupboards built along the low wall and deep grey carpet underfoot. A sofa bed in the living room brings the total to four. The bathroom is better than the flat needs it to be, with a roll-top bath standing on its own feet and a glazed shower cubicle beside it.

Down the hill into town

Head Road climbs the slope above the harbour, which puts you out of the noise of the seafront and still within walking distance of it. Douglas Beach and the promenade lie downhill from the door, and the shops and quayside of Douglas spread out below.

Who it works for

A couple who want room to spread out, or four with the sofa bed in play. The kitchen and the laundry make it somewhere you could settle in for a week rather than a night.